The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-08-19
TALMAGEs SERMON.
4 Homily on Insurance, Life, Fire
and Eternal.

/ AAA0eaA s1AsNOv
and Eternal.
The Christian Prineiples Involvod-RS.
| sPonsibility Restlng Upon Insur.
ance C0mpanlos-Aan's Duty
| 70 His Family.
| Rev. 7. Do Witt Talmage's fourth ser.
mon at "The Hamptons," was ON an every
day topic: "Life and Fire Insurance; the
Christian Principles Involved" His text
Gas:
Lot him appoint Officers over the land. and
lake up the NTH part OF the land Of Egypt In
the seven plenteous years.-Genesis Eli. "a.
These were the words of Joseph, the
president Of the first life insurance com.
pany that the world ever saw. Pharaoh
had . dream that distracted him. He
thought he stood on the banks OF the river
Nile, and saw coming up out Of the river
seven fat, sleek, glossy cows, and they
began to browse in the thick grass. Moth.
ing frightful about that. But after them,
coming out of the same river, he saw seven
cows that were gaunt and starved,
and the worst looking cows that had ever
been seen in the land, and in the ferocity
Of hunger they devoured their seven fat
predecessors. Pharaoh, the King, sent for
Joseph - decipher these midnight hero
glyphics. Joseph made short work of It,
and intinaated that the seven cows that came
out of the river are seven years with plenty
to eat, the seven emaciated cows that fol.
lowed them are seven years with nothing
to eat.
"NOw," said Joseph, 'let NJ take one
fifth of the corn crop of the seven prosper.
Gus years, and keep it as a provision for
the seven years in which there shalt be no
corn CROP"
The King took the counsel and appointed
Joseph, because Of his integrity and pub.
lic.spiritedness, az the president Of the un.
dertaking. The farmers paid one fifth Of
their income a. q premium. In all the
towns and cities of tho land there were
branch houses. This great Egyptian
life insurance company had millions Of
dollars as assets. After awhile the dark
days came, and the whole nation would
have starved il Il had not boon for the pro.
visions they had made for the future. But
now these suffering families had nothing
to do but to 60 up and collect the amount
of their policies. Tho Bible puts Il In one
short phrase:
In al the land Of Egypt there was bread.
say this was tho first life insurance
company. 1t was divinely organized. It
had in it all the advantages Of. the "whole
Me plan," Of the ''tontine PLAN" of the
other good plans. We are told that Rev.
DR.. Anhate, Of Lincolnshire, England. ,origi.
mated the first life insurance company in
ND0 =. L. ,-st>
Egypt, and God himself was the author
and originator. II that were not %
would not take your time and mine in Sab
bath discussion Of this subject. I feel it il
theme vital, religious and Of infinite i'm.
port, the morals Of life and fire insurance.
About ten or twelve years ago there was
. great panic in life insurance, which did
good. Under the storm the Enthusiastically
and bogus institutions were scattered,
while the genuine were tested and firmly
established, and where does tho life insur.
ance institution stand to-day! What
smount of comfort, Of education, of moral
and spiritual advantage Is represented in
the simple statistic that in this country the
life insurance companies in one year paid
$7,OOO, 900 to the families of the bereft; and
in five years they paid $500, 900, 900 to the
families Of the bereft; and are promising
to pay-and hold themselves in readiness
to pays, OOO, OOO, 900 to the families Of the
bereft!
They have actually paid out more In
dividends and death claims than they
have ever received in premiums. know
Of what speak. The life insurance com.
panies Of this country paid moro than ST.
0O0, 900 Of taxes to the Government in five
years. So. instead Of these companies be-
ing indebted to the land, the land Is in.
debted to them. To cry out against life
Insurance because hero and there ono
company has behaved badly is a. absurd
% it would be for a man to burn down
1000 acres Of havest field in order 70 kill
the moles and potato bugs-as preposter-
Gus as man who should blow up crowd
cd steamer in mid-Atlantic for the purpose
of destroying the barnscles on the bottom
Of the hulk.
But what does the Bible say in regard to
this subject? II the Bible favors the insti.
tuition, will favor it; il the Bible dc.
nounces it, I will denounce it. In addi-
ton to the forecast Of Joseph in the text,
call your attention to Paul's COM
parison. Here is one man who, through
neglect, fails to support his family while
he lives, or after he dies. Here Is another
man who abhor the Scriptures and rejects
God. Which Of those mon is the worse?
Well, you say, the latter. Paul says the
former. Paul says that . man who neg
lects to care for his household is more OBJ
noxious than o man who rejects the Script
ures.
He that provideth not for his own, and espo.
eislly those Of his own households worse than
an infidel.
Life insurance companies help most Of Us
- provide for our families after we are
gons: bat, il we have the money to pay the
premiums and do not pay them, we have
no right to expect mercy at the hand of
God in the judgment. We are worse than
Tom Paine, worse than Voltaire, and worse
than Shaftesbury. The Bible declares it.
we are worse than infidel.
After the certificate of death has been
made out, and thirty or sixty days have
passed, and the officer of q life insurance
company comes into the bersft household,
and pays down tho hard cash on an insur.
ance policy, that officer Of the company Is
performing . positively religious rite, ac-
s0rding to the Apostle James, who says:
True religion and undefled before God and the
Father Is this: To visit the fatherless and the
widow in their affiictio,.
The religion Of Christ proposes to take
care of the temporal wants Of the people
IS we'll as the spiritual. When Hezekiah
was dying the injunction came to him:
Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die and
Dot ve
That injunction in our day would mean:
'Malse your wills; settle up your &C
counts; mako things plain; don't deceive
your heirs with rolls Of worthless mining
stock; don't deceive them with deeds of